modern physics
Post-Newtonian natural philosophy
Modern physics refers to physics developed from roughly 1900 onward, distinguished from classical physics by its treatment of phenomena at extreme scales—the very small (quantum mechanics) and the very fast (relativity).
The term marks a conceptual break: classical physics assumed continuous energy and absolute space-time, while modern physics revealed discrete quanta and relative frames of reference.
Modern physics explains why atoms don't collapse and why time dilates at high speeds.
Physics at nanoscopic scales
- superpositionCoexisting in multiple states
- entanglementState of being intertwined
- Heisenberg uncertainty principleFundamental quantum measurement limit
- Schrödinger equationGoverns quantum state evolution
quantization · wavefunction · Copenhagen interpretation · quantum tunneling · spin · Schrödinger's cat · measurement problem · decoherence
Byword for genius
- spacetimeMerged dimensional framework
- general relativityGravity as curved spacetime
- special relativityTheory uniting space, time
- time dilationClocks slow at speed
Accepted reference framework
- Higgs bosonElementary particle explaining mass
- quarksFundamental hadron components
- leptonsFundamental particles, not quarks
- bosonsInteger-spin subatomic particles
fermions · hadrons · gluons · photons · neutrinos · electrons · protons · neutrons
Loud explosive noise
- dark matterLightless cosmic mass
- dark energyForce accelerating universal expansion
- inflationSustained price level increase
- black holesRegions of inescapable gravity
redshift · expanding universe · singularity · event horizon · gravitational waves · gravitational lensing · wormholes · spacetime curvature
Spontaneous nuclear decay
- fissionNuclear breakup releasing energy
- fusionJoining into unity
- nuclear decaySpontaneous atomic transformation
- half-lifePeriod for fifty-percent reduction
isotopes · alpha particles · beta decay · gamma rays · chain reaction · nuclear reactor · Manhattan Project · uranium
quantum mechanics
Physics at nanoscopic scales
- superpositionCoexisting in multiple states
- entanglementState of being intertwined
- Heisenberg uncertainty principleFundamental quantum measurement limit
Schrödinger equation · quantization · wavefunction · Copenhagen interpretation · quantum tunneling · spin · Schrödinger's cat · measurement problem · decoherence
Einstein
Byword for genius
- spacetimeMerged dimensional framework
- general relativityGravity as curved spacetime
- special relativityTheory uniting space, time
time dilation · speed of light · frame of reference · twin paradox
standard model
Accepted reference framework
- Higgs bosonElementary particle explaining mass
- quarksFundamental hadron components
- leptonsFundamental particles, not quarks
bosons · fermions · hadrons · gluons · photons · neutrinos · electrons · protons · neutrons · muons
big bang
Loud explosive noise
- dark matterLightless cosmic mass
- dark energyForce accelerating universal expansion
- inflationSustained price level increase
black holes · redshift · expanding universe · singularity · event horizon · gravitational waves · gravitational lensing · wormholes · spacetime curvature · neutron stars
radioactivity
Spontaneous nuclear decay
- fissionNuclear breakup releasing energy
- fusionJoining into unity
- nuclear decaySpontaneous atomic transformation
half-life · isotopes · alpha particles · beta decay · gamma rays · chain reaction · nuclear reactor · Manhattan Project · uranium · plutonium
modern physicsclassical physics
Pre-twentieth-century natural science
classical mechanics · Newtonian physics · Newtonian mechanics · Aristotelian physics · clockwork universe
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